Bubblegum Cris-Icz 3: Never The End
by IczelPrime
Summary: Sean and the Sabers deal with space invaders (of a sort) and moral conflicts, not to mention imposters and Largo...
1. Episode 1: Devil & Angel's Kiss

Disclaimer: all characters, mecha, events, etc. depicted here are the property of their creators. This is not a challenge of any sort to that ownership, so please don't sue me, I have no money!  
  
Explanations:  
-Notation: I will be using several types of narration in this fan fiction. It will be punctuated as "Speech", [Thought], and {Sending (using some form of mental communication.)} I will also use some of the Internet punctuations for emphasis, ranging from 'slight', through _medium_, *strong*, and SHOUTING!   
  
Previously:  
At the end of Iczelion Act 2, the enemy leader Chaos is not yet defeated, and the mystery of where the Iczels' creators (the Iczers) are is unresolved. In "my" timeline, it takes the Iczelions three years to finally destroy Chaos and his forces. After that, three of the Iczelions - Nami Shiina, Black Iczelion, Kiro, the Gold Iczelion, and Kawaii Kawaii, Silver Iczelion, decide to leave Earth and search for the Iczers. Nagisa Kai and her Iczel partner remain behind. Nagisa pursues her wrestling career, using a "noble alien warrior" character gimmick and becoming quite rich. In 2010, she marries, and in 2015, her son, Sean Kai, named for his grandfather, is born. Unfortunately, Brian, the father, becomes a vocal anti-GENOM protester and dies in a "mugging" in 2020. Sean is scanned by Iczel and proves to be able, as his mother is, to 'synchronize' with an Iczel to create Iczelion. Under the guise of preparing him for a pro wrestling career, Nagisa begins training Sean to succeed her as the defender of the Earth. Sean is, in fact, the main character of our story.  
  
In early 2032, Nagisa Kai is injured while training in Germany and cannot return to MegaTokyo to continue stopping rogue Boomers. She phones Sean at home and arranges to introduce him to Iczel. Unfortunately, the introduction does not go well as Sean deduces that his seemingly independent life has been guided toward joining Iczel for years. Sean sends Iczel away, but not before she raises some points that eat at Sean's conscience. Sean goes to the Fitness Bee to speak to Linna, his current sensei, but she's busy. Sean spars with a training Boomer to pass the time and in his disturbed emotional state, first damages and then destroys it. Linna witnesses this and talks to Sean, but the way he phrases his 'moral question' makes Linna suspicious. She gives Sean some advice, which leads to Sean reconciling with Iczel.  
  
In his first combat action as Iczelion, Sean engages and destroys a C-class Boomer that escaped an A.D. Police blockade. He meets Leon McNichol afterward and is mentioned in a report given to Nene, who shows it to Sylia. She deduces that Iczelion uses a force-field defense system and determines to watch for this new player.   
  
In April, Sean has to break off a training session with Linna so she can take the day to cheer up her friend Irene Can (See BGC 2: Born To Kill.) Hearing Linna's cry of distress as the assassin Boomer tries to kill her, Sean works his way ahead of the chase and crashes his 'cycle into the Boomer, saving Irene's life. The Boomer tries again, but Linna flees with Irene while Sean distracts the killer machine. He himself is unable to break away to become Iczelion, and almost dies before Sylia arrives in her hardsuit in response to a call from Linna. The two note a mutual attraction, but write it off as stress reactions.  
  
Later that night, Iczel detects the Knight Sabers on their way to the Kawasaki facility to kill the SuperBoomer. Sean follows as Iczelion, and interjects himself into the battle between Nene and an assassin Boomer. The SuperBoomer arrives, but is destroyed when its head armour is stripped away by the Knight Sabers and Sean drives two beam swords into its head and detonates them. Sylia, fascinated by the capabilities and compassion of the mystery warrior, tries to call him to them, but Sean flees, fearing she'll recognize his voice from earlier that night. The next morning, Sean and Linna see Irene onto a plane bound for Hong Kong, where she has relatives and should be safe from GENOM.  
  
Two months later, Brian J. Mason lures the Knight Sabers into a trap at Wiz Laboratories with a fake job offer. Modified 55-C Boomers use chest-mounted sonic projectors to render the Sabers helpless. Sean, following the Sabers as Iczelion, uses his forcefield to damp out the sound, and destroys the Boomers. Sean and Sylia talk for the first (?) time as Iczelion and Knight Saber, neither knowing that they've been aquainted for years, through Mackie. One Boomer, only damaged, attacks Sean. He destroys it with a German Suplex, again raising Linna's suspicions, as she knows how much he likes that move. The next morning, she confronts him about it, but can't express her full knowledge without giving away her role as a Knight Saber. She remains suspicious, but can't prove anything.  
  
*****  
  
In July, Sean is training as Iczelion when he notices a bike gang chasing a restored Griffon II on the highway. He has difficulties dicouraging them without hurting anyone, but finally scares them off, thereby saving J.B. Gibson and his fiancee Naomi. (This voids the events of BGC 4: Revenge Road.)   
  
In mid-August, BGC 3 begins, and two BU-12-B Boomers are loosed in MegaTokyo. Sean engages them only to discover that their armour is highly heat-resistant, rendering his weapons ineffective. Nevertheless, he literally disarms the first Boomer by detonating a beam sword _inside_ its right arm railgun. The second still manages to trash Silky Doll and kill the A.D.P. K-11 battlesuit fighting it before dying at the hands of the A.D. Police.  
  
The next evening, Iczel detects the Sabers headed for GENOM Tower, and Sean rushes ahead. Discovering two 'sonic cannon' model BU-55-C's waiting in ambush with Mason, he manages to disable them just before Sylia and Nene arrive. Mason's armour plate is identical to a BU-12-B's, so Sean is unable do do much in the Sylia/Mason battle. When Mason grabs Sylia, Sean tries to throw a beam sword into the 'sensor eye' of Mason's armour, but kills him instead when Mason opens his helmet to gloat over Sylia. Traumatized by his accidental act of murder, Sean passes out, and the Sabers bring him back to Sylia's penthouse.  
  
The Sabers are hard put to it to bring Sean out of his depression, but Sylia finally manages it. Sean complains that he already knew most of the Sabers in their civilian ID's: Sylia and Mackie from Raven's Garage, Priss from her singing (though they'd never _met_ before), and Linna as his martial arts teacher. At a dinner that night, Sylia invites Sean to join the Knight Sabers, and he accepts.  
  
Sean is put through his paces in Knight Saber ability assessments and training: first in the simulator (see BGC 8: Scoop Chase) and then in the team combat exercise at the Suvival Shot paintball facility. Sean reaches Level Seven on the simulator and responds to Sylia's sacrifice tactic in paintball with one of his own: self-sacrifice. By making a moving target of himself, he was shot, but distracted Sylia from Linna long enough that Linna could shoot the elder Stingray.  
  
Sean suffers from guilt-induced nightmares about Mason, himself, and murder, but hangs in there, bolstered by the Sabers' moral support and by Sylia keeping him too busy to think about it most days.  
  
In October, a program planted in Sylia's computer by the Skorpion 19 (see the BGC: Grand Mal manga or graphic novel from Dark Horse Comics) informs Sean by Email about Sylia's intellectual enhancement. He brings her to see the files, and she realizes this was triggered by her diary entries expressing growing affection for Sean. Near despair, she tells Sean about both her and Mackie's alteration and the 2031 episodes with the Skorpion. She's about to leave when Sean realizes he cares deeply for her, too. One thing leads to another, and the two - ahem - spend the night together.  
  
The next morning, an apprehensive Sean is stunned when Sylia 'hears' him "sending" to Iczel. A few experiments acertain that Sean and Sylia are now mentally linked just as Sean and Iczel are. They discuss what it means to be a person - Sean having decided because of Iczel that 'human' shouldn't be the defining term. Sean states that in his opinion, the deciding factor is whether one can care about others.  
  
  
Characters:  
  
(1)Sean Kai, son of Nagisa and our main character. He's 17 years old, rather short, at only 5' 9" tall (and growing), has brown hair, brown eyes, and is well-built. He's good at wrestling and several martial arts, and his training and natural agility have combined to make him incredibly hard to hit - as long as he can dodge. He's also *very* strong-willed, to the point where he could win a staredown with either Priss or Sylia.  
  
(1)Iczel (Normal Type), Nagisa's partner as an Iczelion and soon Sean's as well. A brief note on capabilities; the basic functions of each Iczelion are the same, including firing energy beams, creating force fields and beam swords, and the changing or concealing of the human's features to keep from being recognized. The 'higher functions' of an Iczelion partnership are determined by the partners, however: Sean's are, as yet, unknown.  
  
(1)Priscilla (Priss) Asagiri, the lead singer of "Priss and the Replicants," a popular rock band. Also a secret member of the Knight Sabers, serving as the assault specialist. Sean has seen Priss sing, and idolizes her as a rebel and (though he won't admit this) as a sex symbol.  
  
(1)Leon McNichol, the best detective in the A.D. Police and leader of their 'tactical response teams,' or 'Tac Squads' for short. He and Sean don't know each other, but have bumped elbows at Priss' concerts.  
  
(1)Nene Romanova, at 19 one of the youngest computer/communications specialists in the A.D. Police - and made even more special by the fact that she serves the Knight Sabers in a similar way, albeit from a hardsuit and not from HQ. She doesn't know Sean either, but is the closest Knight Saber to his 17 years of age. Her perpetual 'cute and innocent' attitude is a nice balance for the grimness of the BGC series.  
  
(1)Mackie Stingray, Sylia Stingray's teenage brother and a friend of Sean's ever since the two met at Raven's Garage in 2030. Mackie lost a bet to Sean and had to soup up Sean's prized motorcycle. Mackie is a technical assistant to the Knight Sabers and a bit of a lecher, but he has a secret that he may not be aware of... (see Sylia Stingray)  
  
(1)Sylia Stingray, founder and leader of the Knight Sabers, inventor of their unique "hardsuit" combat armor, and daughter of the renowned Doctor Katsuhito Stingray, who invented Cyberdroids, the artificial humanoids now called "Boomers." Sylia always acts cold and distant, and there is good reason for this. In the BGC: Grand Mal comic series (Available from Dark Horse Comics,) it was revealed that, in order to counter the abuse that GENOM was certain to put his inventions to, Dr. Stingray used an experimental nanotech process on his two children, changing their brain structure biomechanically to give them hyperintelligence. Sylia sometimes wonders if she's even human anymore...  
  
(1)Linna Yamazaki, an aerobics and martial arts teacher at the Fitness Bee, one of MegaTokyo's more successful health clubs. She's also the close combat specialist of the Knight Sabers, and is currently Sean's martial arts instructor, having been impressed by how well he did (before losing) in a match they fought in 2031.  
  
  
  
David Gordon's (Email to: Iczel_prime@hotmail.com)  
Bubblegum Crisis/Iczelion crossover:  
  
Bubblegum Cris-Icz Part 3: Never the End!  
  
Chapter 1: Devil & Angel's Kiss  
  
  
It was 2:45 A.M., April 3rd, in MegaTokyo. Out in the suburbs, the only resident of the Kai household was thrashing in the grip of a nightmare. His covers had long ago been thrown around the room, and he would have been glad of it if awake, because he was drenched with sweat. For nearly ten minutes he thrashed and twisted, and then a sudden calm descended. Sean's expression changed from frightened to determined, then to angry. His hand twitched, then both his arms, and finally his sleeping face went slack, almost astonished. Finally, he awoke with a cry. "WAH! What the... Oh, another dream."   
  
[It sure was a weird one, though,] he thought. [First, there was Brian J. Mason in his helmetless Powered Suit chasing me across a hellscape again, but when we got to the crater where he usually corners me, I finally got angry and I turned on him.] Sean chuckled. [I gave him the same kind of telling-off Sylia usually gives Priss for irresponsibility, but a lot louder and finishing with the statement that I had been aiming an accurate throw for his sensor array and I had asked him to surrender before the battle began, so if he'd either given up or kept his helmet shut, he'd be alive and well, so would he please PISS OFF!?! That's where the weirdness started. After that tirade, Mason and his suit looked like they were painted on cloth, like a curtain. I reached up to Mason's 'collar' and tore the curtain down (off nothing, of course) and there was this silhouette behind it. It was a guy, he had red eyes and blue hair, and he waved toward the sky. Two angels fell from heaven, and one tore off her wings to bandage the wounds of her companion, but the wounded one died anyway. The silhouette-guy laughs, lifts a hand, lowers it like a signal, and this column of fire from the sky came down in front of me and I couldn't see any more. Whew.]   
  
Sean looked at the clock. [Yuck. Three A.M. Too early to do anything, but I'm wide awake. Hey, I'm not miserable! I'm usually so low after being reminded of Mason that I'd have to look up to see the basement! Maybe Priss had a point a week ago. "Sean," she told me, "he knew the risks when he chose to fight." Yeah, I guess that's it. It was his choice to fight, to open his helmet, and to start all the trouble in the first place. I'm sorry he did die, but I don't see it as my fault anymore.]   
  
Sean's thoughts were interrupted by a 'sending'. {Sean? Do I really sense you, awake?}  
  
Sean jumped, then answered. {I guess so, ... is that you, Sylia? I was expecting Iczel.}  
  
Sylia, using the telepathic bond they had discovered after making love last October, 'sent' back, {I suppose even alien androids have to rest sometimes.}  
  
{Yeah, but then what're you doing up at this ungodly hour? I was in bed and only woke up because of a really _weird_ dream. You 'sound' like you're dead on your feet. Ohhh... are you _still_ at Dr. Raven's working on the armour designs? That is the last time I leave you there for 'just another hour'. You're going to run yourself into the ground!}  
  
{I apologize, Sean. I just have a _strong_ hunch that we're going to need upgrades, and soon. I'm just finishing the design for Priss' new suit, and once I put it into the assembly machines, I'll...}  
  
{Ah-hah! I hear that hesitation! You want to stay and work on another suit! Well, you better hurry and get Priss' design into the factory, because I'm getting dressed and coming over there. Anything that isn't done by the time I arrive can wait until you've rested!}  
  
{SEAN!}  
  
*** ***  
  
The next evening, Sean was riding the Western Highway on the restored Mackiecycle. Despite having been up for almost twenty hours running, he was in a pretty good mood. [I really shouldn't have carted Sylia back to the Silky Doll building on the Mackiecycle, but she didn't want to leave the workshop. She probably won't be too happy with me when she realizes I switched her 'stimulating' air freshener and music for 'relaxing' ones, but the way she practically passed out proves that she needed her rest. Once I got her home and into bed, it was almost five A.M., so I just headed down to the Fitness Bee and cleaned up around the building. The manager finally agreed I've worked off my debt for trashing Yellow, the Mannequin-type Sparring Boomer I wrecked back when I met Iczel, so that's a load off my back. And finally, I have some spare time to do what Priss loves and just enjoy the road on a _great_ bike!]   
  
The flaming streak in the sky cut off Sean's musings. [Wha?! What on or above Earth is that!?] A 'sending' from Iczel called his attention.  
  
{Sean! If I'm reading your position correctly, you are very near the projected crash site of an SDPC Orca shuttle! It's on a bad trajectory, it may explode on impact!}  
  
{Oh, great. I survive Boomers only to get killed in a shuttle explosion?!? I don't suppose you're close enough to synchronize, Iczel?} he sent as he quickly turned the cycle onto a side road headed back toward the city.  
  
{I am now!} Iczel sent proudly as she appeared in the garage of a deserted home. Sean gaped, then pulled into the driveway.  
  
"*Charging Up!*" A moment later, after Sean and Iczel had become Iczelion, Sean asked, "how did you get here so quick, anyway?"  
  
Any answer Iczel gave, audible or mental, was drowned out by the ROAR of the flaming shuttle passing overhead, something - diving? - out of the side of the doomed vehicle and passing out of sight to the northeast. A moment later, a wash of flame and a shockwave blew Sean off his feet. Fortunately, the Mackiecycle was inside the forcefield and sustained only minor dents. Sean, however, was curious about the projectile. {Iczel, that may have been an escape pod. It was probably too little too late, but there may be survivors in there. I'll check it out - you separate from me and go get a medical kit from the house, please?}  
  
{OK, Sean. Be careful - you don't know what you'll find!}  
  
An hour later, it was fully dark and Sean was considering abandoning the search. If he'd judged its direction correctly, the flying object should have landed near the Canyons' western tip, but he hadn't seen anything. There hadn't been any explosions from inside the Canyon, either, so Sean didn't think it had gone in there. {Okay, Iczel, I don't think I'm going to find anything tonight. I'll have to check the news tomorrow to see what the AD Police find. I-} "WHOA!"  
  
Two young women had staggered onto the road, one tall and one short. Sean had no time to notice more because they had come onto the road directly in his path. Simultaneously braking and swerving, he slewed his bike around the pair and slowed to a halt. Not bothering to remove his cycle helmet, he ran back toward them. "Geez, are you all right? I almost hit both of you! Why'd you wander out into the road like that, anyway? I-" he cut off as he noticed the tall one was holding up her shorter companion, and the short one was bleeding, or at least bloody. "Oh man, never mind. I'd better get you to a hospital!"  
  
The taller one looked up, alarmed, her eyes seeming to glow in the reflected lights of the Mackiecycle. "NO! No hospitals, please - we wouldn't be safe there. I can patch Anri up if we just have somewhere to rest."  
  
Sean gave her a doubtful look, then kicked himself. [Idiot! You know what it's like to have secrets, and you'll find out what being hunted is like if GENOM ever finds out who you are! Help them now, and talk later when they have reason to trust you!]  
  
"Ah - all right," he said, "I'll take you to a house in the suburbs and you can stay there for a while. I'm Sean, by the way. Sean Kai."  
  
"My name is Sylvie, and my young friend here is Anri," the tall silver-haired woman replied.  
  
By the time the two had gotten onto the Mackiecycle and Sean had carefully driven to his house, Sylvie had told Sean that they had been aboard a shuttle from Genaros Space Station, escaping a man who had essentially kept them as slaves. That part really got Sean's blood boiling, which luckily served as a distraction from how uncannily _attractive_ these two were. Having them squeezed behind him on a bike seat didn't help Sean ignore that either. He came to a decision as he pulled into his driveway. [I can't stay here with these two around. I'll hang around tonight just long enough to be sure that Anri is all right, then I'll go crash at Sylia's or Dr. Raven's. Tomorrow I'll see about getting these two an apartment.]   
  
Sylvie almost scotched that idea. Apparently, his cool (albeit slightly flushed) and businesslike manner as he and Sylvie tended Anri's wounds had made her think of him as trustworthy, because she confided some more in him before he left.  
  
"Anri and I," she began, "were two of five... people in the situation I described to you. All five of us on the station and thinking that there was no possible way to escape. Then someone sent us a message on the station, telling us how Kaufman, the station director, planned to smuggle something down to Earth for sale. We all studied space piloting, and we stole the shuttle that Kaufman's goods were in, but Nam, Meg, and Lou all... all died getting us to the shuttle. Anri was wounded too, and we barely escaped. I'm afraid Kaufman will send or hire people to bring us back or find what we took! If anyone finds out we're here..." Her pleading look tore at Sean's heart. He really ought to tell the other Sabers about this, it sounded important... but she seemed so afraid.   
  
[I hope I don't regret this,] he thought as he came to a decision.   
  
"Sylvie, I know a few things about mercenaries and the underworld. I'll look around and see if anything's up, and if you're nervous about me leaving, I swear to God that I will not tell anyone about how you came to me. As of right now, you two are - uh - friends of my mother come to stay in MegaTokyo for a while. How's that?" The look Sylvie gave him was pure relief, answering Sean's question quite well. Before he could lose himself in those deep brown eyes, Sean hurriedly turned away. "Um - I really should let you two have the house to yourselves tonight. I'll sleep at a friend's place and we can see about finding you your own apartment tomorrow." Giving himself no chance to change his mind - [what *is* it about Sylvie anyway?,] Sean thought - he gathered a week's worth of clothes and drove off to the Ladys 633 building.  
  
*** ***  
  
Fortunately, Sylia was too occupied at being annoyed with Sean to question his 'friends of my mom' story.  
  
"I cannot _believe_ that you were so arrogant as to assume you knew more about my well-being than I did!" she stormed. "Who gave you permission to change my music and aroma settings, anyway?!"  
  
"I think the way you almost passed out when I _did_ switch them proved me right about your well-being! It seemed to be a good test of your claims of being 'fine', at any rate. It was a lot less confrontational than my other option!"  
  
"Which was?"  
  
"Carry you out to the 'cycle and drive you home anyway. I could tell from your 'sending', let alone the hour, Sylia, you were exhausted! And you never answered my question, anyway. May I use the guest bedroom for a while?"  
  
"You haven't explained _why_ you need to come here. I thought your house was quite large enough for three."  
  
Sean blushed. "Ahem! Well - how can I say this - they are close enough to be family, but are _not_ related to me or Mother. They are also _extremely_ physically attractive, and..." Sylia's expression softened.  
  
"...And so with your current adult awareness of them, you chose to remove yourself from temptation?" Sean nodded. "Sean, you seldom fail to amaze me. In love or not, there are any number of eighteen-year-old males who would jump at an opportunity like that. And, I might add, of those who would avoid it, there are even fewer who would tell their 'significant others' their reason for moving out. I'm very proud that you trust me that much, and of course you may use the guest bedroom."  
  
Now Sean really felt like a heel. [But what are my options?] he thought. [Damned few, it seems. Hopefully I can find those two an apartment soon and end all this.]  
  
Sylia continued speaking after a pause. "Actually, your timing may be fortunate. Fargo, our 'fixer', says he's concluding arrangements on a job for the Knight Sabers, so when we meet, you and I need to tell the others about our relationship and its serendipitous result."  
  
Sean gulped. "Um, Sylia... we didn't exactly practice safe sex that night. Should we test for another - um - 'surprise'?"  
  
Sylia smiled softly at her young lover. "Sean, both my and Mackie's 'altered' conditions may have changed our DNA. Mackie had a vasectomy as soon as he was mature, and I had my tubes tied long ago. Neither of us can have children."  
  
"Oh. Whew! Sorry if you want a family, Sylia, but I don't think I'm ready for parenthood yet. After all, the kid _might_ turn out like me, and then he'd be the death of us both from what Mom said about my infancy!" Sylia couldn't contain a quiet laugh at Sean's joke.  
  
*** ***  
  
Several days later, Sean was driving Sylvie to Priss' trailer one afternoon, trying to forget her attractiveness by going over the intervening time in his memory.  
  
[The meeting with the Knight Sabers was interesting in a number of ways, not all of them good. First we told Priss, Linna, and Nene about our relationship, and the reactions were varied, to say the least. Priss wanted *details,*] - he blushed at the mere memory - [Linna was completely stunned and then asked if we'd been drunk, and Nene, well, Nene was so happy and energetic that you'd think she was hyper! Of course, the claim about what _resulted_ from that night quieted everyone down fast. They wouldn't believe it until we demonstrated by having everyone split up to opposite ends of the building, and Sylia and I tell Linna and Priss, respectively, what the other party had said. Even Priss was stunned when we proved we really had a telepathic link. Once everyone was back together, Sylia moved on to our current 'job', and that really has me worried. Apparently two young ladies fled Genaros Station with a prototype Battlemover that has a synchro-capable battle computer! Even more, Iczel confirmed a few nights later that Anri and Sylvie are actually 33-S Boomers! I still think they qualify as 'people', and at least now I have a good idea of what that _thing_ that crashed out of the Orca shuttle was, but I'm stuck in a moral dilemma! Sylvie and Anri seem to be good people, and I swore an oath to them, but I'm part of the Knight Sabers too! What am I gonna DO?!?] He cut off that line of thought as he pulled up by 'The EmPriss', the trailer that served as home to Sean's favorite rock singer.  
  
"Priss! I'm here, and I brought Sylvie!" Sean called.  
  
Priss had heard about Sean's 'mother's friends' at the meeting and had been interested. Anri still wasn't well enough to travel, but Sylvie had expressed an interest in getting out and about. With some misgivings, Sean had introduced the sexaroid to the singer at Hot Legs, and they had hit it off instantly. Priss had asked Sean to bring Sylvie here today, mentioning a 'surprise'.  
  
The rock singer came leaping out the trailer door and gave Sylvie a hug. Sean took two steps back to prevent similar treatment. [It isn't that I don't like her, but she's almost as sexy as Sylvie! ....AARGH! *What* am I *thinking*?!] Priss, meanwhile, had pulled Sylvie around the corner of her trailer, and what the silver-haired woman saw there made her gasp. Curiosity overcoming caution, Sean moved up next to the pair and saw a blue motorcycle that appeared to be a twin to Priss' own custom-tooled model.  
  
"SURPRISE!" Priss yodeled. "I heard you didn't have any way to get around, but it wasn't until Sean told me how well you could handle _his_ cycle that I thought of this. Now we can get you a bike suit and helmet, and I can show you the joys of cycling!" She gave Sean a sly grin. "Maybe we can even get Sean to join us one of these times. They do say threesomes are more fun..."   
  
Sean choked at Priss' sexual innuendo. [Oh, thanks *heaps,* Priss...]  
  
Sylvie traded an evil grin with her newest friend. "Mm, I think that would be great! After all," she said, looking Sean in the eye, "I _do_ have to _thank_ him for letting us stay at his home... and leaving us our _privacy_..."  
  
Sean was slowly backing up toward his bike while beating his naughty and inappropriate imagination down with a club to shut off the mental images the teasing evoked. [Oh, *god*, if any of that leaks through to Sylia, I'm dead! And I can't even _mention_ that in front of Sylvie!! I'd better get _out_ of here!] Priss grinned at the retreating young man and turned the screws one more time.  
  
"Maybe we could just be his _sparring partners_ for a while, in private. After all, he is training for _wrestling_...."   
  
Sean's blush showed through his helmet visor as he turned around, dashed to his bike, and drove quickly away from his two far-too-attractive friends. He stayed on the roads until both his hormones and his overactive imagination had calmed down, then drove to his house. [I ought to check in with Anri,] he mused. [Maybe I'll get lucky and Sylvie won't be there.] Somehow, he had never gotten around to finding the two their own lodging. He turned the corner onto his street just in time to see a blue bike heading for the Canyons in the light of a street lamp. [Huh, my luck's in! I mean, I like both Anri and Sylvie as 'people', but Anri is cute and a little down right now, while Sylvie just gets my blood rushing!]   
  
As he walked up to his front door, Sean's mind suddenly made several connections that it should have made long ago. [Blood - 33-S Maintenance - Sylia mentioned - and Sylvie said she could take care of Anri if - OH, GOD, NO!] Tearing open the door, he dashed inside. A pale Anri looked up at him, alarmed. Sean didn't care at the moment - he was alarmed too!  
  
"Anri, I've gotta make this quick, so here's the short version. I know you and Sylvie are sexaroids, and I don't care. You two are still people. But I just found out how you need to maintain yourselves, and if Sylvie's gonna do what I think she's gonna do, I've got to stop her before she does something really tragic. Did she tell you anything about _where_ she was going?"  
  
Anri looked slightly stunned. "You - we're still people to you?"  
  
[Damn,] Sean thought, [I forgot how much that news rocked Sylia! I'll be lucky if Anri's coherent at all!] "Anri! Yes, you two are still people, but I've _gotta_ stop Sylvie before she really hurts someone! _Where_ did she _go_?!" At that, Anri shook herself out of her shock.   
  
"I - we stole a Battlemover up in space. We hid it in a sewer pipe in the west end of the Canyons, near where you met us."  
  
"Oh, Anri, thank you!" Sean cried in relief. "I'll find some other way to get what you need, I promise!" he told her, turning and sprinting to his bike.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sylvie looked up at the D.D. Battlemover. She didn't like it, it frankly scared her the way she and the killing machine had seemed to become one during the flight down from the crashing shuttle. [But I can't put this off any longer,] she thought desperately. [Anri's not improving, and I _won't_ lose another friend for our freedom! I _have_ to get her the blood she needs, even if that means killing peop- humans.] Firming her resolve, she opened the canopy and climbed in.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean was pulling up to the edge of the Canyons when he saw the hulking shape of the Battlemover coming over the far side. It sprang over a building on silenced jets and was gone to the north. [F##KING DAMN!] he thought. [Too late, and if I confront her as Iczelion I'll either prompt a fight to the finish or have to reveal my identity! Well, looks like this gets done the dangerous way then.] {Iczel! You nearby?}  
  
{Always, Sean, whenever you need me.}  
  
{Good! Can you track that Battlemover?}  
  
{Yes. I have a lock on its power signature now. Shall we synchronize?}  
  
{NO! I have to confront the pilot as Sean, or she'll panic! I'm helping a friend now, Iczel, not being a Knight Saber! Just lead me to the thing, quickly!}  
  
Iczel, swallowing her surprise, gave directions as the Mackiecycle roared off in pursuit of a monster.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sylvie looked at the screens in the cockpit, grateful for the 'silent running' features of the D.D. Without them, she'd never have gotten this far without having to fight the A.D. Police. [I may have to kill so that Anri can live, but I don't want to do it any more than necessary.] The sensors had been running the parameters she had fed into them earlier, and from her position in an alleyway, they were now highlighting a car with two people in it, parked in a shadowed stretch of forested road, beside some sort of park. [All right. For you, Anri!] She rushed the Battlemover forward, driving one foot down onto - and *through* - the hood of the car to prevent escape. The young couple inside stared at her as she opened the canopy...  
  
Sean, already close, heard the crash and veered toward it. He finally emerged to the sight of a vaguely humanoid form that topped sixteen feet tall, with one foot crushing the hood of a small car on the roadside. Not wasting any time, he arrowed the Mackiecycle toward them while howling,  
  
"NOOO! DON'T YOU DARE!"  
  
Sylvie, hearing an impossibly familiar shout, snapped the canopy shut and spun the D.D. around to face the voice. [It _is_ Sean!,] she thought incredulously. [But how- where- ]   
  
Sean, seeing the Battlemover twist to face him, braked to a halt and kept talking, using his normal voice and trusting the D.D.'s sensors would let Sylvie hear him. "I know you must be desperate, but there _are_ other options. I can't discuss this in public, because I made you a promise, so can we take this somewhere- YOW!"  
  
The D.D., at Sylvie's urging, had leaped across the intervening distance, snatched up Sean (cycle and all), and skimmed on silenced jets along the roadways. The hair-raising ride continued until they reached the edge of the Canyons, then dropped in, drifting on hissing jets to the bottom. Once inside a sewer mouth, the canopy hissed open.  
  
"Sean?" Sylvie asked. "How on earth did you find me? I - what did you mean back there, w-what do you _know_?"  
  
"Ahem." [Time for more creative interpretation of truth,] Sean thought. "Well, taking events in chronological order, I suspected several days ago that you and Anri might be sexaroids. It doesn't matter to me: you are both still people as far as I'm concerned, and good people at that. It wasn't until today, after you were teasing me back with Priss, that I remembered some of the rumours about certain sexaroids requiring human blood to stay alive. When I got home and confronted Anri about it, she told me about - well - this thing, and where you hid it. I got to the Canyons just in time to see you leave, so I went in the direction I saw you go, and - well, I lucked out!" He gave Sylvie a sheepish grin. "As to what I meant, there are a number of private clinics in MegaTokyo, each of which has a blood bank and sells it to private citizens who need blood for some reason. You didn't have the money to consider that on your own, and you didn't know that I knew - well, suspected - or how I felt, so I can understand why you felt this was your only option. I'm willing to pay for the blood supply, though, especially if it means you don't have to hurt anyone!" Sylvie, eyes and mouth wide open, just stared at him.  
  
A moment later, she finally got the gist of what he'd told her, and she sprang out of the pilot's chair to hug Sean in a rib-cracking grip, crying and murmuring "thank you... _thank_ you..." over and over again. Sean finally squirmed away, red-faced and short of breath.   
  
"Wow, you're strong! I could hardly breathe there! Um, anyway, I suppose we should go make a certain liquid purchase now, right?" Sylvie, wiping tears from her eyes, nodded. A moment later, she stiffened.  
  
"But, Sean... how will we explain it when we keep coming back to buy blood?" Turning to his bike, he answered her over his shoulder.  
  
"I thought of that on my way to the Canyon to intercept you. As soon as we walk in the clinic door, we are two medical students doing a thesis on blood plasma. We of course have to confirm our theories, meaning we need blood to experiment on, and..." Sean's voice trailed off as Sylvie hugged him from behind, fortunately with less force than last time.   
  
"Thank you again, Sean. I don't know what I'd have done without you."  
  
Sean suffered a brief vision of 'vampire in MegaTokyo!' headlines showing Sylvie with her head cut off and a stake through her heart. [I'm afraid I do. Brrr...] Shaking off his bad mood, Sean mounted the Mackiecycle as Sylvie pulled her blue bike out of hiding, and the two drove off together.  
  
  



	2. Episode 2: Break Down

Episode 2: Break Down  
  
A few days after his Canyon conversation with Sylvie, Sean was in Hot Legs waiting for Priss and Sylvie to return from their latest cycling trip. He mused, [The past few days have been a mixture of relieved and nerve-wrenching. Sylvie and Priss are getting along great, and I like not having to worry about her and Anri as much, but at the same time, I'm really scared about what will happen when one of the Knight Sabers - Priss in particular - discovers that Sylvie's a Boomer. Priss introduced the others to her last night - thank heaven Sylia wasn't there, or the game would have been up! Heck, the game was nearly up anyway when Nene mentioned the 'Highwayman', as the A.D.P. are calling the D.D. after that night. I'm feeling lousy about not telling Sylia about all this. I gave my word, though. Without Sylvie's permission, I can't tell anyone about her nature or origin, and I can't explain why I trust Sylia with that sort of information without violating Article 1 of the Knight Sabers' Code, which I'm _also_ bound to by my word. I'm not fussy about 'honour' in most ways, but I won't go back on my given word, even when I didn't know all the facts beforehand. Still, I feel badly knowing that Sylvie doesn't really _need_ the D.D. anymore, and that if I'd told Sylia where it was hidden, the job would be over now. I think I hate being caught in the middle.] He came out of his reminiscing as Priss entered the club. "Hi Priss! Get ticketed on the way here, or is there another reason you took so long?" She gave him a sour look.  
  
"I was off biking outside city limits with Sylvie, and we were stopped for a break when we saw that damn GENOM Production building - GPCC, I think they call it. She gave me this weird comment about 'I am free now', and didn't come back with me. She - hey, what's wrong?" Sean had gone very pale as he remembered Sylvie telling him why she and Anri had come down to MegaTokyo.   
  
[She mentioned that the major GENOM research facility here had data on how a 33-S could make herself totally self-sufficient, not needing human blood plasma any longer. If she meant GPCC, and I think she did, she could be - oh, no.]  
  
Standing suddenly without a word of explanation, Sean dashed out the door of Hot Legs and jumped aboard the Mackiecycle, roaring off into the evening toward the Canyons.  
  
"Hey!" yelled the startled Priss as he ran, "What in the world-?" She stopped as a possibility occurred to her. [Hmm. He might have gotten a telepathic message from Sylia or Iczel. I'd better call in.]  
  
A few minutes later, Priss was on the phone with Sylia. "-so I wondered if you'd called him - you know, your personal way." she finished. Sylia frowned.   
  
"I haven't called him, Priss, so I don't know what disturbed him like that. One moment - " she frowned for a few seconds, then looked back toward the phone's screen. "Priss, he's not answering. I don't know what's going on, but we'd better be prepared. Come back here and get ready - I'll call the others." Priss nodded, hung up the vidphone, and jogged out to her bike.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean stood staring at the D.D. in its sewer tunnel. [She didn't even take the D.D.! Is she crazy? ...Get a grip, Sean.] He took a deep breath. [Well, she's gone to GPCC, but what do I do now? Sylia was already 'sending' to me about this - she's gonna be furious that I didn't answer.] Sean thought at a frantic pace for a few moments, most of his plans colliding with his obligations and shattering. Finally, he came to a decision. [Okay. One way or another, Sylvie's probably gonna get in trouble at GPCC, so I synchronize and go give her whatever help I can. Then, one way or another, I get her to give _this_ thing up when we get back, give its location to Sylia, and end this whole mess.] Firming his resolve, he called to Iczel.  
  
*** ***  
  
[It can't be this easy, can it?] Sylvie thought. Her impromptu raid into GPCC had gone far better than she had expected. She had sneaked in without incident, and found the GPCC head, Flint, in his office alone. Her mesmerizing optics had quickly entranced him into pointing out the location of her objective - a data disk with full technical details of how to make a 33-S's systems fully self-sufficient. She'd then put him harmlessly to sleep, and was on her way back to her bike. Just then two _large_ men in dark suits and shades came around a hallway corner.  
  
"Well, if it isn't the current hot topic of conversation! We must be lucky tonight."  
  
Sylvie thought fast - she was strong, but not strong enough to subdue two men this size, and the mirrorshades they wore would block out her hypnotic abilities. [My best chance is to get the glasses off them,] she thought. "Why don't you take off those yucky shades and I'll show you a _real_ good time?" she asked seductively.  
  
"Like this?" the second man said, and pulled off his shades...  
  
...to reveal the red optics of a BU-55-C Boomer. [Damn!] Sylvie thought, [I can't hypnotize Boomers, and I have no chance at all of beating these two! I have to lose them or reach the D.D.!] She turned, and blessed her perfect Boomer memory as she smashed through a window two stories above where she'd parked her bike.  
  
From the shadows, Largo watched her flee, and smiled.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean, as Iczelion, was flying toward the GPCC building when Sylvie, followed by two 55-C Boomers bursting out of human disguises, leaped out of a third-story window. Sylvie mounted her bike and roared off onto the highway, making for the Faultline Canyons. {Whoa!} Sean sent to Iczel. {I guess that solves the problem of finding her inside a building! OK, Iczel, let's cut across to intercept the 55-C's.} Swooping across the skyline, Sean aimed carefully at the first C-class...  
  
*** ***  
  
Sylvie was near panic. [They're faster than the bike!] she thought. [I'll never survive all the way to the Canyons, and I've got no idea how to get down to the D.D. fast enough anyway!] As if to confirm her pessimism, a laser bolt flashed by, searing a gash into her abdomen. [Ahh! Oh well, it could be worse. I could have those Boomer-hunting mercenaries after me, the ones Priss talks about.]   
  
An explosion from behind drew her attention to the rear-view mirror. One of her pursuers was down in a flaming wreck on the highway. [What in the...] Her unspoken question was answered as a yellow-and-red figure swooped down upon the second 55-C, cutting it in two with a translucent yellow blade. Panic set in. [Oh my god, I have to get out of here!] Hunching forward, she gave the cycle everything it had...  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean was pleased at his quick victory, but worried about Sylvie, and he'd just heard from Iczel that three more 55-C's had just launched from GPCC. {Guess they really want her, huh, partner?}  
  
{I won't argue with that conclusion, Sean, but we need to catch up with her. She's approaching the Broken Overpass at a dangerous rate of speed!} Sean took one look at the velocity Iczel read and turned hard toward the Canyons.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sylvie had seen the armoured figure turn towards her and her fear had sparked a desperate plan. [When I reach the Canyons I'll just jump off the bridge, catch a piece of rebar or a sewer lip on the far side, and drop from handhold to handhold to the bottom! I *can't* die now, not now that I have the information we need to be free!] Gunning the motor again, she roared up to the edge of the broken overpass, then over it...  
  
"Are you *crazy*? Priss will KILL you!" cried the armoured figure as it dove toward her, catching the bike before she could jump clear and lowering it toward the canyon floor. Sylvie was speechless for a moment as the cry echoed through her thoughts. [Priss? He knows Priss? Hey, wait a minute - he knows Priss gave me the bike! And I never told anyone about that, so the only one who should know is...]  
  
"*Sean?* Is that *you?*" The yellow-and-red figure snapped its head around to her, then almost sagged as they touched ground.  
  
"Oh, bugger, I blew it. Way to *go*, Kai."  
  
"It _is_ you! I didn't know, I was rushing for the D.D.! Oh god, Sean, I might have killed you!"  
  
"Ah - We'll talk later, Sylvie. There are three more 55-C's incoming right now. Go hide in the D.D., I don't think they can detect you in there. I'll handle the C-classes, you just stay hidden." Sylvie nodded and ran for a certain sewer pipe. Sean sighed. [Now _she_ knows. Great. Oh well, may as well make it a party,] he thought. 'Sending' to Sylia for the first time that evening, he called out, {Sylia! I'm sorry I haven't answered so far, I wanted to tend to personal business without involving you - but now I have three BU-55-C's coming at me in the Canyons near the inland overpass, and I don't know if I can handle them alone. Can you assist?}  
  
{We're on our way,} came a terse reply. Sean could swear an arctic wind blew over him, the tone was that cold.  
  
{I'm sorry, Sylia, really I am, but maybe I can _finally_ explain everything after this is over.} He could sense curiosity, but also unabated anger from Sylia.   
  
{Sean, the explanation had better be a good one to account for three C-class Boomers chasing you. And there had better _not_ be a 'maybe' about the explanation. Our ETA is six minutes; Sylia out.} Sean shivered. [Oh, man. I don't think shutting her out was a great idea, but I didn't know what to tell her when she called me! Damn. I *really* hate this being caught in the middle!]  
  
Just then, three bulky humanoids soared into the Canyon. Sean glared. "All right, I've had a lousy day that promises to get worse, and I'm going to work out some stress _right_ _now_!"  
  
*** ***  
  
Sylvie, watching the fight from inside the hidden D.D., stared in horror at her screens. Iczelion - [Sean,] she reminded herself - had foregone ranged combat entirely in order to swoop in and slash at the 55-C's with two swords that the D.D. informed her were contained energy of some sort. He turned, spun, swooped in and out, but the three Boomers were working to keep him at bay by guarding each other's backs. As she watched, Sean dove on one Boomer and double-slashed it into pieces, but a microwave shot from the second 55-C and a laser bolt from the third combined to slam him into the ground. The second Boomer closed its chestplate and grabbed Sean's arms from behind, pulling him up, while the third extended a set of wrist claws and stalked in. [I can't just let him die!] With that thought, she grabbed the controls and spurred the D.D. forward...  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean was just recovering from his crash landing. His ribs hurt, and the Boomer in front of him was saying something about 'tell me where she went'. Just then, a metallic clang sounded as the D.D. emerged from the sewers.  
  
"Right there," he said. The Battlemover was in its rapid transit mode at the moment, resembling a mechanical red-and-gray twelve-foot panther with a vulcan cannon mounted on its back. That cannon swiveled to point at the claw-wielding Boomer and fired with a stuttering roar, shattering the BU-55-C with forty heavy armour-piercing rounds inside of three seconds. The last remaining Boomer let go of Sean to use its heat cannon, but Sean turned on it and blew it to bits with a two-handed energy bolt at point-blank range. He then turned to the D.D.  
  
"Nice work! You could have a career in this business if you wanted one!"   
  
Sylvie's reply was cut short by the --THOOM-- of an A.D. Police K-12 Armoured Trooper landing on the far side of the D.D. from Sean.  
  
"All right, I'm not going to do anything to you! Just come out of there!," cried the voice of Leon McNichol.  
  
[Oh, no. Why me, Fate? Why _him_, the one ADP Officer I appreciate enough that I won't just knock him on his tin butt? Why *now*, when in five minutes, we could have been gone!] Sean's mind babbled. [Okay, time for some fast talking...] Sean moved out from behind the D.D. and called to Leon. "Hey, Inspector McNichol! Long time no see!" The dumbfounded expression on Leon's face _almost_ made Sean's day worthwhile.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sylvie had frozen when Leon's K-12 had landed, and now she was calmer but feeling strange. Her vision was blurring, her side was numb, and she was getting flashes of the oddest feeling, like the D.D. _was_ her body instead of just _carrying_ her body.  
  
Then shock and blood loss from her wound set in, and she faded down into darkness...  
  
*** ***  
  
"...so you see, we have it all under control. You can have the D.D. if you like - " Sean spun around as the D.D. began its mechamorphosis to humanoid - full combat - mode. "Sylvie?" No reply. "SYLVIE?!" he cried, Iczel broadcasting it over radio as well. Still no reply, and the scanners on the D.D.'s head deployed to survey the area. [Oh, shit!] Sean thought as realization set in. [She was _bleeding_ when I caught her... if it was bad she could have passed out and...] "McNichol," he growled in an undertone, "get out of here!"  
  
"What!? Why? What's happening?"  
  
"Dammit, McNichol, I think my partner was hurt and didn't say it! If she's passed out, the J-1 computer's in command now! I am _probably_ listed as non-hostile, but *you* are definitely not safe! Beat it so I can get her out of there!"  
  
Leon had gone dead white. "I can't. I don't know if you know this, having the Battlemover 'third-hand', but the J-1 also activates a micro-neutron bomb! If we can't destroy the D.D. before the timer runs down, the whole city -" A shocked Sean never got to hear the rest of the explanation, because the D.D.'s arm came across in a vicious arc, smashing into Sean's abused ribs and launching him into a shattering impact against the canyon wall.   
  
[So much for 'non-hostile',] Sean thought as he spiraled into blackness.   
  
*** ***  
  
"Priss? That is you, isn't it?" The words filtered in to Sean through a gray blanket. He wasn't hearing straight, his vision was fuzzy, his body felt like it was wrapped in cotton. He struggled to free himself from his stupor as the pleading voice - [Sylvie,] his mind labeled it - went on, pleading with Priss to kill her, severing her link to the D.D. and thus shutting down the J-1 with no explosion. [Hmm,] Sean mused in a detached sort of way. [like a lobotomy, cutting off part of a brain to limit its function without killing the patient.] Suddenly, the haze cleared from his mind, though his body was still limp. [Wait a minute! If that analogy holds...]   
  
Fixing on this one hope of saving his newest friend, Sean struggled with his uncooperative body, levering himself to his feet. The pain of a broken rib lanced into his side, but he welcomed it - it helped to wake him up. Finally, he heaved his eyes open to see the D.D., cockpit open to reveal a horrified Sylvie, holding Sylia's hardsuit with one arm and raising the other to strike. In one sharp flash, the lethargy was gone and Sean was charging in, grabbing a beam sword as he went.  
  
He slashed through the D.D.'s elbow, freeing Sylia, just as an explosion tore the D.D.'s other arm off above the wrist. Priss stared down at them through watery eyes and a shattered visor, crying "Sylvie... HERE I COME!!" as she leapt her Motoroid off the Canyon's edge and down into the battle.  
  
"PRISS! NO! DON'T SHOOT! DOOON'T!" Sean cried as he also leapt into the air, up onto the D.D.'s torso, standing over Sylvie...  
  
"What are you doing? *Get out of the way!*" Sylia screamed. There were less than 50 seconds remaining until the bomb went off, and Sean had jumped right into Priss's line of fire!   
  
The J-1, confused by the dual threat, fired at the incoming Motoroid first. Priss dodged the first volley from the vulcan cannon, then screamed in shock as Sean plunged his beam swords down into the D.D.'s cockpit! "SYLVIE!"  
  
Sean worked the beam swords down in an odd double curve, as if he were cutting around and under something, then let go of them, reached down, and pulled a man-size oval of slashed wire and gutted circuitry out of there, leaping away. Priss aimed her motoroid's cannon at the mecha as Sean crashed to the ground under his prize, but held her fire as Nene cried out a report.  
  
"Sylia! It's stopped! The countdown's stopped, and..." The D.D. crashed to the ground. "...and the D.D. is shutting down." Everyone stared at the D.D. for a moment. "Sylia, what happened?" Nene asked.   
  
"_We_ can answer that," Sean called from where he was still half-buried under the chunk he'd carved out of the mecha, "if someone could help turn Sylvie over."  
  
"SYLVIE?!" Priss shrieked, and landed next to them. Reaching out, she turned the chunk over...  
  
... to reveal a shocked, but slowly grinning Sylvie still locked into a cut-out cockpit chair. Sean grinned, although with his 'holofaceplate' up, no one could see it. "I thought that if removing Sylvie from the link was what we had to do, then cutting her free would also shut down the J-1, if it was that dependent on a linkage." By now, Priss and Sylvie were hugging, crying hysterically.  
  
{That's only natural, Sean, when they've come so close to killing each other,} Sylia 'sent' to him.  
  
{Oops! Did I let that leak out? Sorry, didn't intend to.} Sean replied.  
  
{Right now, Sean, we'd better get your injured Sexaroid friend to Silky Doll - I can repair her in the basement lab. And _then_, we are going to discuss what you knew, for how long, and why you didn't even tell _me_.} Sean shivered. This was _not_ going to go over well, but he was done with lying. All his good intentions had gotten him was trouble.  
  
*** ***  
  
Sylia was actually finding it difficult to maintain her calm facade. Fortunately they were in a private room, but Sean's admission that he had known for _weeks_ about his house guests being from Genaros had started a burning sensation in her heart. It had only grown more intense with each new confession - Sylvie and Anri being Sexaroids, the 'Highwayman' being the D.D. with Sylvie at the helm, the blood purchases, all of it. She gathered her composure for a moment, then spoke, her voice glacially calm. "Sean, I know there is no article in the Knight Sabers' Code about withholding information, but I cannot believe you didn't trust us - trust _me,_" and her voice cracked, just on the one word, "enough to tell us about this. I know you explained about your oath, but you should have told us! The Knight Sabers are built on trust, Sean. If we don't have that, we have nothing. I have no option but to suspend you from the Knight Sabers." She held up a hand at his strangled cry of protest. "I know I can't keep you and Iczel apart, and I am not foolish enough to try. But until we have resolved this 'conflict of interest' problem you have, you will not be involved in Knight Saber operations in any way. This will make it inconvenient for you to stay here-"   
  
Sean cut her off before she could finish, almost snarling at her. His broken rib was taped and set, but he had been under a lot of stress over this for weeks and the painkillers had lowered his emotional defenses somewhat. "Do you think I seriously _enjoyed_ being stuck in a damn moral dilemma? Particularly one that was not only life-and-death, but involved my closest friends? Fine. If my 'personal honour', as you put it during that two-hour grilling I just endured, is a problem, then fine. Sylvie should be mobile by now, so I'll just collect her and _she and I_ can go stay at _my place_ with _Anri,_ since I don't seem to be wanted around here!" And with that, he stalked out, leaving Sylia speechless with surprise and anger.   
  
[How dare he!] she thought. [How dare he talk to me like that, especially when _he_ was in the wrong to put his word before all else in such a dangerous situation! And *most* especially when I was going to let him stay here despite the difficulty!] She was so furious that she was actually inarticulate. As a matter of fact, she wasn't sure she'd ever been this angry, even when she'd deduced the identity of her father's killer, Brian J. Mason. [What was that old saying again,] she mused through her anger, ["it's those within your heart that get farthest under your skin?"...]  
  
*** ***  
  
Sean was still seething. He'd prevailed upon Linna to give them a ride home, since both his and Sylvie's bikes were still in the Canyons. Linna and Sylvie had both been giving him nervous glances for the whole drive, but he ignored them. [Hmph! Trust! "And if I broke my given word, Sylia, how could you trust me then? Isn't this a double standard?" That's what I should have said. Aargh!] His thoughts continued in this vein until they reached Sean's house. Linna waited outside as Sean and Sylvie went to the door. He opened it...  
  
And froze. The front hall was a shambles, with the doormats shoved about and the little cabinet overturned, and the kitchen at the end of the hall was in similar condition. {Shit,} he sent to Iczel, {the place is all messed up! Iczel, is Anri here?}  
  
Sean's heart skipped a beat at the reply. {No, she's not, Sean, and I can't locate her anywhere within five hundred meters, beyond which I'd no longer be able to tell a 33-S from a human.} He spoke under his breath to Sylvie.  
  
"Sylvie, go back to the van. Someone's been through here like a bull in a china shop and Anri's nowhere around. If someone took Anri, they might be here for you, too. Go tell Linna - she should let you stay with her for a while, and we really _can_ see about getting you your own space. I'll look after things here."   
  
Sylvie stared for a moment, then burst forward, running for the door. "ANRI!"   
  
Sean, caught unaware, tried to pull her back but was dragged forward instead. By the time they stopped, the two were halfway down the front hall. No Boomers leaped out at them, nor did any booby traps go off. Sean sighed. "Were you listening to me at _all_, Sylvie?"  
  
She blushed. "I'm sorry, but I'm so worried -" He waved her off.  
  
"No problem this time. I was just worried that *who* or *what*ever took Anri might be back for you. If she wasn't safe, you aren't either. So you go stay with Linna, and since I don't have to worry about 'Knight Sabers Business'," he paused, as that still stung, "I'll do all I can to find Anri. Priss will help, I'm sure, and Iczel and I can make sure that if the kidnappers come back, they get a very _nasty_ surprise. But first and foremost, we keep you safe."  
  
"Sean - thank you. For saving my life when I thought I had to die, even though you _did_ scare me half to death doing it," Sean studied the floor, "and for giving us a home, and for this - and Anri would thank you, too." Wasting no more time, Sylvie walked out to the van and got in, and after a minute the two women drove off. Sean looked around at the shifted rugs and overturned furniture, and started to clean up.  
  
{So do you have any ideas about how to find Anri?} Iczel sent.  
  
{Yes, a couple. I'll stay at home for as long as possible in the daylight hours, on my theory that the kidnappers probably won't be satisfied with just Anri - I'll bet that it's someone that Kaufman creep hired to get his 'property',} and the sending seethed with Sean's fury at that designation, {back for him. With you nearby, as I said, anyone trying anything will get a shock!}  
  
{That covers the daytime. I take it you have something in mind for the nights?} Iczel asked.  
  
{I do indeed. You mentioned a five-hundred-meter range at which you can tell a Sexaroid from a human, correct? And this is a radius?}  
  
{Yes, to both. Does this mean flying nighttime search patterns to locate Sexaroids?}  
  
{Give the Iczel a prize! Yup, you got it. We'll cover the Canyons first, then the Aqua Cities, and then a grid pattern over the city each night until we find her, dammit! Sorry, didn't mean to let the anger slip out there. One thing right after another. How'd anyone find her here, anyhow?}  
  
{I don't know, Sean. And as to 'one thing after another', doesn't Inspector McNichol say that he likes it that MegaTokyo's never dull?}  
  
Sean laughed, but it was hollow.  
  
*** ***  
  
The next week was, in a word, awful. Sean's sweeps of the Canyons, Aqua Cities, and other areas where one might hide a kidnap victim were fruitless - the only Boomers there were standard Labor-types. The grid pattern was slow, and the team couldn't risk flying too near GENOM Tower or A.D.P. Headquarters, leading Sean to worry that their quarry might be inside one of those 'safe zones'. Sleeping during the day, dashing out for the minimum possible time to shop and rushing back home, worry, and nightmares about what could be happening to Anri were also taking their toll on the young man. Sylia called, concerned for his health, but he brushed her off.  
  
"I'm minding _my_ own business, Boss Lady, you mind yours," was his response to each of her calls, whether vidphone, Email, or 'sending'. He was still fuming about her reaction to a situation where he felt he'd taken the only possible course of action. Still, he missed her badly, and was on the verge of depression.  
  
Finally, on that Friday morning at 5 a.m., Sean came into the house through the basement sewer entrance, separating from Iczel before going upstairs. [Another worthless search,] he thought miserably. [I'm beginning to get the awful suspicion that Anri's captors didn't even stay in MegaTokyo. How'll I ever find them if that's true?] In the living room, he noticed the light blinking on the vidphone, signaling that a message had been taken overnight. [Hmm. Probably not Sylia or any of the Sabers - they and Sylvie know I'm not in after dark anymore. Oh well, better check it before -] he yawned. [-Before I crash.] He flipped the 'Play' button and sat back to watch the small screen.  
  
A young woman with neat, shoulder-length brown hair looked out at him from the screen, wearing a business suit and looking nervous. The image was so different from Sean's last view of her that it took him several words to recognize Anri!   
  
"Sean," she was saying, "I don't have long. I just wanted you to know I was safe and to apologize for the mess I made when I left - I thought it was GENOM coming to get me, but it was the man who made it possible for us to escape Genaros. I panicked and tried to run before he could explain. I - I don't know if you know about Sylvie yet: 'he' already told me she died. I - I'm sorry." Her eyes clouded up, and the message ended.  
  
Sean was stunned. [Now what's going on!?!] he wailed in his mind. He was still careful not to let his thought leak over into 'sending', though. [Talk about thought control...] Before he could go over all that Anri had said, fatigue overtook him and he collapsed back onto the couch.  
  
*** ***  
  
When Sean woke up in the afternoon, he replayed the message. [OK, Anri's all right by her own admission, so unless she was being controlled or coerced somehow I can stop worrying about her well-being. The explanation also covers the mess in here - even a weakened 33-S can be damn strong when in fear of her life. But what's this shit about Sylvie being dead?!?] Picking up the phone, he tried to keep calm as he dialed Linna's number.  
  
Sylvie picked up the phone. "Yes, Yamazaki residence, may I help you - oh, Sean, hello! Sean?" she asked as he visibly sagged in relief. "Sean, what's wrong?" She paused as an awful thought came to her. "It's not - it's not bad news about Anri, is it?"  
  
Sean shook his head. "Not exactly. She left me a video message, saying she was all right and that she'd been picked up by the man who gave you the info to escape Genaros, but she thought at first that it was GENOM, hence the mess. Then she implied that he'd told her you were dead! I thought for a minute that she knew something I didn't!" He paused for breath.  
  
Sylvie got over her shock at being declared dead quickly and asked, "But why would he tell her that? I'm _not_ dead!"  
  
"I don't know, but there are two basic possibilities; One, he really doesn't know, he thinks you died in the D.D. or something. Or, Two, he does know, and he wants her to think you're dead so she won't try to contact you or leave him for you. Do you have any way to get in contact with this guy?"  
  
"No. He only sent us the information about the shuttles, the D.D., and GPCC. There was no mention of meeting him anywhere!" A short pause. "Sean, do you think..."  
  
Sean nodded. "I have a hunch he wanted you, some or all of the group you mentioned, down here for reasons of his own. I don't know why, but I'm going to keep looking for Anri, and when I find them I intend to find out!"  
  



	3. Episode 3: Wild and Scarred

Episode 3: Wild and Scarred  
  
Another week of fruitless searching went by, Sean's health slowly returning to normal now that he was no longer worried about Anri being dead or the victim of some horrible experiment. Then, on the 4th of May, Sean caught the 6 o'clock news.  
  
"... The armoured vigilantes known as the Knight Sabers, including the mysterious Iczelion, raided a GENOM transport facility last night, destroying several security Boomers, killing three guards and a truck driver, and stealing a transport truck filled with valuable Boomer components. GENOM chairman Quincy was unavailable for comment, but..." The rest of the words faded out of Sean's consciousness as he watched the images on the screen. Very good likenesses of all four Sabers and of Iczelion, albeit with a solid visor, were caught on security camera footage. Iczelion in particular: 'he' was shown striding through pistol fire to casually pitch a glowing - [but solid,] Sean noted - sword into the right eye of one guard.   
  
[What the hell is this?!? I certainly wasn't there last night, and I don't think that's the Saber's style either! Shit, we're being set up!] {SYLIA! Have you seen the news?!} he sent.  
  
{Ouch! not so loud, Sean. Yes, I have seen the footage. It was on the midday news as well, but given your current schedule, I thought you might be asleep at the time.}  
  
{Oh, for... why in blazes didn't you _call_ me?! I don't mind being woken up for important matters! Never mind, I'll be right over. I-} Sylia cut him off.  
  
{No, Sean. This is aimed primarily at the Knight Sabers, and that makes it Knight Sabers business. We will meet tomorrow to discuss how to handle this, but you are still on suspension.}  
  
{Oh, for crying out loud, Sylia, this is no time to-} He stopped as the feeling of 'contact' broke off. [She cut me off! Oooh, I can't _believe_ her! I probably won't have any better luck with normal communication right now, either. Well, all I can do is watch and wait.] He then noticed the announcer mention the datanet boast that these 'Fake Sabers', as Sean now thought of them, would raid the Tinsel City Bank in three days. [Well! If Sylia doesn't want my input, I just won't ask! I _will_ be there, though, well in advance, and the Iczelion impostor makes this _my_ business. We'll see who laughs last!]  
  
*** ***  
  
It was the evening of Monday, the 7th of May. Sean had synchronized with Iczel at noon and gone to one of the taller buildings surrounding the Tinsel City Bank. Breaking into a roof stairwell, he had used his forcefield to confound A.D. Police infrared and radar sweeps. For eight hours now, he'd waited and watched. [I suppose I should be glad of it if nothing happens, but I want to resolve this impostor situation now!] Looking out to the top of the bank, he snorted for the fifth time at the squads of Tactical Response Teams on the roof. [I wonder who's in charge, and what they could be thinking? There isn't a Tac Squad in MegaTokyo that any one of the Sabers couldn't beat in seconds! Those people are cannon fodder if these fakes come in high--]   
  
A shattering explosion wiped the roof clean of A.D.P. personnel and revealed the fake Knight Sabers and Iczelion - almost. [Hey,] Sean thought, [where's the Nene copy? I don't see her!] Then an A.D.P. chopper tried to make an attack pass on the bank rooftop, only to be shot down casually by the fake Sylia. Sean struggled to rein in his temper. [Even if they're short one, if I go in alone, I'll likely get killed. I have to wait-] Sean stopped as he saw Leon McNichol climbing into a K-12 Armoured Trooper. [Aw, shit, he's dog meat on his own! Better move in to back him up.]  
  
*** ***  
  
Leon was beginning to think that this wasn't one of his better ideas. For one, he wasn't fighting at his full ability because he'd seen the faces of two of the Sabers - if Iczelion counted - during the fracas with the D.D. Battlemover. Iczelion's odd blue faceplate had faded away when he'd been kayoed by the D.D., and Leon had connected the face to a name in the Tokyo Highway Patrol's speeding misdemeanor files - Sean Kai. Then Priss had opened her faceplate to embrace the D.D.'s pilot after Iczelion had pulled off a miracle save. Leon had kept it quiet, but he _knew._ Now, not 100% sure if these were the real deal of not, Leon had held back in the current fight, and hadn't even landed one shot on the hardsuits. Second, the thumping they'd been giving him was getting rougher, and if things kept escalating at this rate one of them was going to shoot-  
  
As Leon finished the thought, the 'Iczelion' aimed one arm at him and fired at his cockpit visor. He shied to one side, trying to take the hit on a shoulder-  
  
And blinked as something flashed in front of him and took the hit. He blinked again. It was Iczelion! The smoke from the blast cleared, and the new arrival pointed at his counterpart - who was visibly different now that Leon could see both at once. He sighed in relief. The _second_ was the original!  
  
"Surprised to see me?" the real Iczelion cried. "I know _I_ am!" He pointed at his double. Under his breath, he hissed to Leon, "McNichol? You okay?"   
  
"You bet!" Leon murmured back. "You want some help?"  
  
"I wouldn't mind at all! Oh, and in case you're still wondering, these are _not_ the real Sabers. I've seen them enough that I recognize the little differences in design." [Not really,] Sean thought, [but I can't very well say that I can sense the location of the real 'white Saber', and she isn't here yet!]  
  
"That's a relief," Leon replied. "Now I can kick some ass!" Iczelion cocked his head at Leon, giving him the impression of a cockeyed grin. Then he turned back to face his double.  
  
"O.K.! *Let's rumble!*"  
  
The next two minutes were decidedly odd. The doubles were going drastically out of their way to avoid getting hit at all, and while they used teamwork to hit Sean and Leon a few times, they would have been far more effective going with an all-out offense. Finally, unbalanced by a shoulder slam from the false Sylia, Leon's K-12 toppled to a lower roof tier as Sean watched. Quickly he flew over to cover the downed suit with his forcefield as Leon struggled up. As the A.D.P. Inspector regained his feet, the pair looked up to see all the doubles aiming at them. Sean stiffened his field, waiting for a devastating salvo...  
  
That never came. A white form blurred by the false Priss, flipping over its head and blasting it with both Palm Bombers. {Sylia!} Sean sent. {Here to join the party?}  
  
The response was _not_ amused. {I thought I told you this was Knight Saber business!} she replied.  
  
Sean pointed at his double. {And what's _that?_ An art deal on the side? He's mine, Sylia, and that's why I'm here!}  
  
{A thin excuse, but I can't refute it. Very well. Try to keep your A.D.P. friend out of the way, though!}  
  
{Hey, he's not doing so badly!} Sean replied indignantly. In fact, with such inferior hardware, Leon had been working miracles so far.   
  
"Hah! The real ones are all here!" Leon yelled. He jetted his K-12 up to outflank the doubles between him, Iczelion, and the Knight Sabers.  
  
"Your little plot has been exposed, you are short one member, and you're surrounded. I suggest you give yourselves up," Sylia called.  
  
An odd bulge appeared on the fake Sylia's helmet. As Sean watched in horror, the four fakes exploded out of their 'hardsuit' appearances like a 55-C shedding a human disguise. The resulting Boomers were each almost fifteen feet tall, and the now-red Priss double showed no sign of damage from Sylia's Bomber strike. The former Sylia double said,   
  
"Now that you're all here, we can fulfill our mission. Time to die, Knight Sabers!" With that, all the HyperBoomers charged - the former Iczelion rushing Sean, its armour shrugging off a rapid-fire series of energy blasts with an ease that could only mean it was more of the B-12's ceramel composites. Sean swerved aside, then powered up his forcefield and charged, meaning to ram.  
  
The golden HyperBoomer dodged easily, looping around to Sean's rear and opening its chest panels. What it fired, though, was not a microwave beam. A ripple affect flashed outward from it, expanding as it came, and try as he might, Sean was unable to escape the area of the pulse, which slammed him across the street and onto the roof of the building he'd been watching the bank from.  
  
{Iczel, what _was_ that?!?} Sean asked, picking himself up onto hands and knees.   
  
{A beam of somewhat focused kinetic energy. I didn't think Earth technology could accomplish that yet! We could do the same by concentrating the graviton emissions we use to fly, but-}  
  
Iczel was cut off as the gold HyperBoomer soared across the street in pursuit of its target and launched a horrific kick into Sean's side - luckily not the injured one. Then it plastered him to the stairwell housing with another shockwave blast, and came in with a slap to Sean's head. He struggled to stay conscious as it grabbed him under the arms and held him up.  
  
"Is that _all_ you have, Iczelion?," it growled at him. "I didn't expect it to be so easy. Maybe I'll go have some fun after I kill you by helping my friend pull the arms and legs off the white suit - maybe with the wearer's limbs still in them."  
  
Sean's mind exploded into rage. One desire was foremost in his mind - to smash this murderous thing with his bare hands, before it could harm Sylia, or kill any more. Energy peaked in Iczelion, flowing from his center into his limbs, and he snapped his head up to regard the Boomer.  
  
"YOU-" his voice was a grating growl.  
  
"WILL-" he brought his arms up. The Boomer noticed a ripple affect extending about a foot out from the fists and opened its chest panels again.  
  
"NOT-" Iczelion smashed his fists down on the Boomer's arms and they snapped at the elbows. More ripples began around Iczelion's legs.  
  
"HURT-" one fist slammed into the Boomer's triangular skull, smashing one eye, while the other crashed into the shockwave cannon, leaving a foot-wide dent.  
  
"ANYONE ELSE!" A barrage of fists, feet, and knees descended upon the injured HyperBoomer, each one landing with that one-foot-wide impact and carrying incredible force. The torso of the machine was a shattered ruin in seconds, Iczelion concluding his fury by stomping the now-detached skull of his foe, smashing it.  
  
Sean came back to himself. {Oh.. My.. God! What power! Iczel, how did we do _that?_}  
  
{I was just mentioning that the graviton output of our drives could be rerouted, Sean. You directed the energy to your fists and feet, creating a one-foot-diameter contained gravity field in each spot.}  
  
{In english, please, Iczel?}  
  
{You were effectively wearing one-ton weights on your limbs without slowing the speed of your strikes.} Sean was stunned. The sheer _momentum_ of a hit like that...  
  
An explosion from the Bank roof distracted him. {Sylia!} he called. {I'm in decent shape and my opponent is down. Permission to engage?}  
  
The thought that came back was somewhat strained. {No! Priss and Linna are doing well enough against their foes, and Nene and I are double-teaming mine. You got what you were 'here for', so now you can go.}  
  
Sean seethed. {*Yes, Ma'am.*} [I can't believe she's being this stubborn! Well, she should have them outnumbered five to-] He suddenly realized that he hadn't seen Leon at all since getting clobbered. "Hey! McNichol! Are you okay?," he called over the radio. Receiving no response, he scanned the bank roof, but neither the K-12 suit nor its wreckage were in evidence. [Well, he probably pulled out - he was totally outmatched there. Oh, hell. If Sylia wants me to butt out,] he thought with a tinge of bitterness, [far be it from lowly Sean to argue.] He pulled up off the apartment roof, aiming for the Canyons.  
  
*** ***  
  
His flight was interrupted barely a minute later by a brilliant white beam stabbing down from the sky at a point along the Fault's Edge Highway. {Iczel,} he sent softly, {please tell me that wasn't...}  
  
{I think it was, Sean. An orbital particle-beam strike.} Iczel responded.  
  
{This doesn't make any damn sense,} Sean replied. {The Knight Sabers and I destroyed the prototype SuperBoomer, and why would USSD blast a stretch of highway?!? We'd better get over there and check for damage and survivors. Please, God, let it have been some stupid glitch.}  
  
Sean's prayer went unanswered, as a second strike less than two minutes later blew a recently arrived A.D.P. helicopter out of the sky.  
  
{Dammit! Full speed, Iczel! There's gotta be a Killer Doll or a SuperBoomer there, we have to destroy it before it kills anyone else!} Iczelion threw caution to the wind as he accelerated toward the site. As he pulled in above the highway, he saw two human figures, one holding the other off the ground by the throat. As he aimed a blast at the road under their feet, Sean asked Iczel, {Can you scan them? I'd really like to know who's who _before_ I shoot.}  
  
{Scanning...} came the response. {Sean, the aggressor is a Boomer of unknown type, the victim is your friend Leon McNichol,} Sean flinched in surprise - so this was where he'd gotten to! {-and in the car are one human I haven't yet encountered, and -} Iczel broke off.   
  
{Iczel? Who else is in the car?}  
  
{You won't believe this, but it's Anri!}  
  
"WHAT?!" Sean exploded verbally. Shaking his head, he put those concerns out of his mind as he concentrated on knocking the Boomer over without hurting Leon. He fired, blowing up pavement under the blue-haired Boomer, knocking it down and making it drop Leon. As it got up, it glared at him and pointed an arm to the sky.   
  
Sean suffered a horrific flashback. In his last nightmare about the deceased Mason, he'd seen a red-eyed, blue-haired silhouette call down 'fire from heaven' with that gesture. [If anything today resembles that, it's a satellite strike!] Sean thought. Reacting instantly, he accelerated and swerved to one side - he saw a bright flash -   
  
Then he crashed into the guardrail of the highway, propelled by a titanic blast, and the world went dark.  
  
*** ***  
  
He awoke to the sight a a glowing crater in the road beside him. {Ow... Yipes, that was no sure thing! Iczel, how're we doing?}  
  
Iczel took a moment to reply, and when she did, it was slower than usual. {Um... Sean, the outer shields... took the brunt of the blast, and they're working at about... 20% efficiency right now. The inner field, the 'skintight' one, is at... about 50% capacity, and my internal systems... are at 80%. I can effect self-repair in about thirty minutes.}  
  
{Okay, but make it quicker if you can. Oh, shit, I forgot about McNichol!}  
  
Pulling himself to his feet, Sean wobbled over to where Leon lay on the ground. The A.D.P. Inspector coughed as Sean approached. In a detached way, Sean noted that his left ribs were hurting again; he'd probably re-injured them, but at least Leon was alive.  
  
"Boy, McNichol, you do get in trouble!" Sean called as he knelt by Leon's side. "What happened here, anyway?"  
  
Leon rolled slowly onto his back. "Ow... not sure. Some guy kidnapped the Minister of Defense, and was driving along here when he stopped to deal with a GENOM car. I'm not sure, but I think the bastard called down satellite particle-beam strikes on the car, then my chopper. He had me by the throat until you bowled him over. Thanks," he coughed. "Shit! A monster should at least look like a monster... Ow."  
  
Sean turned to leave - an A.D.P. chopper was already inbound, and Leon didn't appear to be in danger of dying. Leon reached up and grabbed his hand.  
  
"Listen," he said, "this isn't like your other enemies. Leave it to the A.D. Police. I don't want Priss getting hurt because of this, Kai." Sean's head snapped around of its own accord.  
  
"Excuse me? Who?"  
  
"I saw your face after the D.D. belted you, and I was conscious when Priss popped her helmet. I didn't tell - but I care for her. I don't want her getting hurt."  
  
[Aw, *shit!*] Sean thought. [First Sylvie, now this! I can't believe this!] Aloud, he said,   
  
"Don't worry, Inspector. I can't comment one way or another on your idea of identities, but rest assured I will _not_ invite your favorite rock singer along tonight." With that, he flew off. Leon slowly stood as the backup A.D.P. helicopter descended toward him. He stared after Iczelion as the yellow-and-red figure flew off toward GENOM Tower, the direction that the kidnappers had gone.  
  
*** ***  
  
Some twenty minutes after the scene with Leon, Sean was standing on a rooftop neighboring GENOM Tower, paying close attention to Iczel's sensor reports. Anri and the mystery Boomer had arrived at the Tower ten minutes ago, and a GENOM vice-president had promptly killed the Defence Minister and taken the two Boomers inside, riding the elevator up to Quincy's own office. The entourage of 55-C Boomers with the group showed the Old Man - idly Sean wondered if anyone had ever called Quincy that face-to-face - was being careful. Two minutes ago, Iczel had picked up tight-beam meson-particle transmissions coming from the office, but nothing appeared to be happening.   
  
Suddenly, a salvo of particle-beam strikes rained down on the GPCC Center on the outskirts of MegaTokyo. The entire block disappeared in a fireball. Sean gaped in shock.  
  
[I knew he could direct the satellites, but... Oh my God, he only hit small targets before... All those people! *All those _lives!_*] For several seconds Sean stood and seethed. Finally, he turned to face the Tower, where a window of Quincy's office had been shattered.   
  
{Sean,} Iczel cried, {I need more time to finish repairs! *Sean!*}  
  
{He. Dies.}  
  
With that, Sean lifted off the rooftop and streaked toward the Tower, ignoring his partner.  
  
*** ***  
  
He flew in to see an android double of Quincy sprawled against the wall and the two Boomers facing broken TV screens.  
  
"Largo?" Anri said to her ally. Sean's rage cooled at that - Anri was so innocent, she couldn't have knowingly been part of this. [I better get her out of here first,] Sean thought. [Revenge can wait for another day.]  
  
"There's no point in staying here any longer, Anri. Let's go," Largo replied to the Sexaroid.  
  
"I agree," Sean called, using his normal voice. "Anri, come here. Let's go." The pair whirled, and Largo threw out his hand, and some kind of shockwave blew Sean back into the wall. The faceplate sputtered and died.   
  
{Iczel!}  
  
{I _told_ you I needed more time!}  
  
The mental exchange was about all that Sean was able for - he'd been badly rattled by the crash, and his left ribs had definitely broken again. He just made out Largo telling Anri to finish 'the one who murdered Sylvie.' Just as Sean got his wits together, a knife slid between his ribs - luckily his right ones.  
  
"Sylvie... I avenged you..." Anri whispered sadly from in front of Sean, where she held the knife. Sean reached up and put his hands on her shoulders, gently pushing her away from him until the knife came out in her hands. Then he knelt down in front of Anri and looked her in the eye.  
  
"Anri..." he grated through the pain. "I've never lied to you, not since the day you fell out of the sky to complicate my life. I swear to you now - Sylvie is alive! Get out of here, go to Priss's trailer. Ask her to call Sylvie for you. She's alive!"  
  
Anri's shocked face was punctuated by Largo's laughter. "So the *little lion* is actually Sylia's lover Sean Kai! And he uses the truth quite nicely to his advantage. Yes, Sylvie is alive: her arrival in MegaTokyo led to a chain of events that gave me full control of GPCC and allowed me to produce the HyperBoomers. As long as one of the more aggressive ones survived with the D.D., it would have served my purposes."  
  
"Then we were just..." Anri gasped.  
  
"I suppose you could call yourselves my catspaws," Largo replied. "But your collective usefulness is at an end. Step aside, Anri," he said while readying a second shockwave, "Play time... is over."   
  
As the shockwave roared in at him, Sean reached up to push Anri off to one side - only to find that she'd already moved between him and Largo. Desperately, he tried to raise a forcefield around them both, but he could feel the system damage slowing him...  
  
He saw, as if in slow motion, Anri being hit by the shockwave, blood spurting from her body, her falling back towards him, landing in his lap. She was saying something, but he lost most of it in his shock. Time seemed to return to normal, and he heard,   
  
"...so, Sean, you have to live... you have to win... for Sylvie's freedom... for your lover... and... don't forget me..."  
  
"Never." He clasped her reaching hand tight until it went limp, life having finally fled.  
  
"So, is it dead?" Largo asked casually. "Or perhaps I should say, 'has it ceased functioning?'" He paused. "It is, after all, just a machine."  
  
Sean seethed. No, he burned, feeling a fury like never before in his life. "_You_ should know that the physical makeup isn't all that makes you a *person.* Anri was a damn sight better as a person than a certain GENOM exec I accidentally wasted." Now he screamed. "*YOU* AREN'T A PERSON AT ALL! GO TO THE SCRAPHEAP, YOU FUCKING MURDER MACHINE!!" He whipped an arm up, snatching a beam sword and throwing it with all of his strength in one smooth motion...  
  
But Largo blew it back at him with a shockwave blast, and charged, punching Sean out through the wall and down thirty feet to where he and the Sabers had battled Mason months ago. Sean crashed down on his back, but ignored the pain and bolted to his feet as Largo came to the hole, laughing.  
  
"How foolish to think you are a match for me!," he gloated.   
  
Sean stood still, feeling the rage rise, and his energy rise with it, rippling around him like heat-shimmer. "I'm _not_ going to lose, bastard. Not here, not now. For all the people you killed with the satellites, but most of all for Anri, you die here."   
  
Largo looked down upon his foe with some respect. "A lion's courage, to the end. Allow me to pay homage to your admirable bravery by giving you a glimpse of perfection." With that, he pulled off his shirt and jacket, tossing them down toward Sean.  
  
In no mood to play, Sean incinerated the clothing with an energy blast - then gawked. Largo's body was black and gray, and obviously armoured, but his appearance was as close to human as Sean had ever seen in a Boomer. Even the intakes for the flight jets were almost gills, quite organic in appearance.  
  
"THIS is the look of a true victor! Now make peace with your gods, child." Sean hardly heard the last few words; he'd just come to a shocking realization.  
  
[My dream, where this guy's silhouette was behind the image of Mason - he called me 'little lion', only one man's ever called me that - and 'the look of a victor'? My God, he's...]  
  
"...Mason."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You. Mason. You.. Largo.. are Mason. How? And for god's sake, why the switch to mass murder? My God, you've given up everything that made you a _person_ to be a better killer!" Sean's rage had drained away, replaced by surprise and dull horror. He turned toward a shadowy side passage as a _heavy_ footstep resounded from there. [I hope that's a Motoroid, or even a BU-12-B, it'll be out to get Largo as much as me...] his thoughts faded away as the shape of one of the HyperBoomers emerged from the darkness. He spun as another came around the curve of the Tower and a third landed behind him. None of them showed signs of serious damage.   
  
Sean's emotional roller coaster now dove to the depths of despair. [oh, no...] he moaned inside. [if these guys are here and intact, then the Sabers... Sylia...]  
  
Largo smirked. "It seems I won't have to dirty my hands on you, after all. Kill him!" he cried.  
  
Sean leaped up at the blue HyperBoomer as it flew at him, but he was just going through the motions. He dodged, slashed with his swords, squirmed free when the red one grabbed his skull, but he ran into a punch, a concussion blast, and crashed into a wall. He looked up to see Largo striding between his minions.  
  
"Damn you," he spat. Largo kicked him, sending him flying to the ground, where all four assailants encircled him.  
  
[Dammit! Is this the end?] Sean thought. [I don't want to live without Sylia, but I _have_ to win here, or at least kill Largo. Sylia... Anri... If your spirits can hear me, *help me.* *Give Me Strength!*]  
  
{Ask, and you shall receive, lover!}  
  
{SYLIA!?!?!}  
  
An explosion from behind the Boomers drew their attention - and Sean's - to a descending humanoid figure. It looked to Sean like an improved version of a Motoroid, and it was in white - Sylia's colour. Sean had never seen anything so beautiful in his entire life. {Sylia! Is that you? Is everyone okay?}  
  
{Yes, to both. Sean, we need to talk later. For now, just rest.} Her 'sending' didn't seem to hinder her fighting in the slightest as Largo ordered one HyperBoomer to charge, and the Motoroid - Sean recognized it now from plans he'd seen at Dr. Raven's the night of his last Mason nightmare, it was a Typhoon II - demolished it without even firing a weapon.  
  
Largo snarled at the new arrival. "You! Well, it doesn't matter. You're all broken inside your shell. With all three of us, it won't take long to destroy your big 'crutch.'"  
  
Sean was feeling wonderful. A tidal wave of relief, elation, and new determination surged through him - and through Iczel.  
  
{Oh, Sean,} she sent, {just like your mother! Your strength is washing through us!} All the nicks and tears in the 'spandex' sealed up, the dents in the armour smoothed out, and Sean could _feel_ all systems returning to full capacity - maybe better!   
  
['All Systems,' apparently, includes me!] Sean thought as his ribs, the knife wound, and his bruises and cuts all seemed to disappear at once! He climbed to his feet behind the Boomers - all the recovery seemed to have taken less than a second. Acting on instinct, he drew both beam swords, then pushed them together. They merged to form one long blade which he held in both hands. Largo spun around, but Sean stabbed the sword through the red HyperBoomer, then leaped up, cutting it in two! Landing beside Sylia, he let the sword dissipate, then asked,  
  
"Are you up for some one-on-one? If you take your former impostor there," he indicated the lone remaining HyperBoomer, "I can handle _him._" he finished, staring at Largo.  
  
"Agreed - and a pleasure." Sylia replied, facing her opponent.  
  
As they battled, Sean concentrated, feeling the energy surge to his limbs like it had when he destroyed his HyperBoomer counterpart. Suddenly he leaped, leveling a dropkick at Largo's head.  
  
The SuperBoomer shifted his weight, moving his torso to one side, and Sean destroyed a section of concrete wall when he hit it. Turning, he saw Largo throwing a shockwave so powerful that it retained the shape of his fist, spiraling in at Sean. Snapping up his forcefield, he jumped to one side, but the blast clipped the field - and caved it in! [Oh, man, if he'd actually _hit_ me...] Sean thought, aghast.  
  
Largo snorted. "Hmph! So a worm remains a worm, even with all that power. My next attack will send you straight to Hell."  
  
Sean, staring Largo right in the eyes, replied;  
  
"We'll see about that. All my heart, _all my soul,_ *everything I've got's going into this one!* **THIS IS FOR ANRIII!!!**"  
  
Largo charged, but registered surprise as Sean sprang _backward,_ rebounding off the wall to land in a handspring, all his energy focusing within his right foot as he vaulted forward and kicked Largo's outstretched fist with every ounce of strength he could muster!  
  
The moment seemed to freeze, as Sean felt Largo's blow ravage his leg and bones in his ankle pop out of their sockets, but he did not relent. Time resumed its normal flow, as Largo's arm, and half his chest, were torn from his body by the driving force of the kick, and he flew back to smash into a wall in a cloud of dust. Sean flipped to his feet, but nearly fell from sudden exhaustion and the pain in his leg.  
  
Sylia caught him before he hit the ground. She was out of her Motoroid. [She won and I didn't even notice!] Sean thought.   
  
A three-part cry of "Iczelion!" rang out from above as the Knightwing descended to the battlefield, but Sean was no longer paying attention. Relief and fatigue were setting in. He was barely 'there' enough to notice as Largo called in a satellite strike, Linna and Nene used the artillery Motoroid to counter, and Largo was hoist on his own petard.  
  
A new voice 'sending' woke him up in a hurry.  
  
{Sylia... Sylia Stingray...} Largo!!  
  
{How do you know my name?} Sylia.  
  
{I know... that you and I are two of a kind... because...}  
  
Sean broke in. {-Because you moved your mind into a Boomer body and she's enhanced!?! Stuff it, Mason. You and Sylia are like winter and summer, the only thing you have in common is the places you cover. Shut your face!} Suddenly, Sean heard Priss yelling,  
  
"Lookout, you two!"  
  
_Looking_ at Largo, Sean saw that he'd deployed a mouth laser aimed at them! [Shit! should've known, gotta protect us!] For the second time that night, Sean desperately tried to raise a forcefield with the sickening feeling that it would be too late. He stepped between the Boomer and his lover...  
  
...And a thunderous gunshot rang out, punching a large hole in Largo's forehead and toppling him off the precipice he'd been balanced on. He fell over the edge, and as Sylia, Priss, and Sean scrambled forward to look, an explosion blew out the bottom of the artificial canyon he'd fallen into. They all looked back over their shoulders to see Leon, neck brace and all, standing on the roof of Quincy's office with his big 'Earth Shaker' anti-Boomer pistol smoking in his right hand. He waved and laughed, and squinted as the sun rose over MegaTokyo.  
  
*** ***  
  
Back in the Knightwing, Sylia and Sean were talking. Sylia was standing in the cabin, and Sean, with Iczel separate, was slumped in one of the seats.  
  
"Sean, I have to apologize," Sylia was saying. "You were right to hold on to your principles, and I shouldn't have insisted you abandon them to be expedient. It wasn't until I felt you over at GENOM Tower, and thought I might lose you, that I realized that your integrity is part of what I love about you. I know I can trust you in confidence with anything, and you won't tell anyone. I - I _need_ that, an element of absolute trust. I-" Sean held up a hand to stop her. He'd been trying to since the first sentence, but his revival and effort against Largo were taking their toll now.  
  
"Sylia," he croaked, "I appreciate the sentiment, but if I'd mentioned Sylvie, Anri, and the D.D. earlier, Anri might never have fallen in with - with _that_," and he nodded back toward the Tower, "and might still be alive." He paused to swallow the lump in his throat, then continued, "I further have found moral dilemmas and conflicts of interest to be bloody awful! I don't ever want to go through that again, so:" he cleared his throat;  
  
"I, Sean Kai, do swear to you, Sylia Stingray, that if ever I come into possession of information that I feel relates to the Knight Sabers organization or any assignment thereof, you will be told, and as soon as possible." He 'ahem'med again.  
  
"There, does that cover it? I hope so, because I... am... bushed..." Having said what he needed to, he let himself lapse into sleep, the painkillers in his leg helping him along. Sylia stared for a moment, then smiled and gently embraced her friend and lover as he rested.  
  
*** ***  
  
Two days later, on crutches and with a cast around the dislocated ankle, Sean limped up to the door of Linna's apartment. There was something that needed to be done, however painful - or awkward - it might be.  
  
Iczel had heard all of what Anri had told Sean, and played it back for him through their link the day after the battle.  
  
"Sean... I couldn't let you die... I never said anything... but I care for you... and so does Sylvie... We talked... after you bought blood for us... you were the first... to say we were people... but _he_ doesn't think so... he'll just use Sylvie again... and your Sylia too... so, Sean, you have to live... you have to win... for Sylvie's freedom... for your lover... and... don't forget me..."  
  
[I really have to apologize to Sylvie for letting Anri die, and resolve this 'caring' situation. I don't need _another_ strain on my morals right now!] Squaring his shoulders, he rang the doorbell...  
  
  
END BUBBLEGUM CRIS-ICZ 3: NEVER THE END  
  
To be continued in:  
  
BUBBLEGUM CRIS-ICZ 4: SAY YES!  



End file.
